Russell Jones Architects . photos: © Rory Gardiner . + wallpaper
A 68 square metre compact 2 bedroom mews house and enclosed courtyard of 11 square metres in Highgate. This 2 storey brick house faces onto a quiet cobbled mews. Its 90 square metre site, on land to the rear of a 5 story locally listed building, was formerly occupied by a disused garage and derelict garden. It sits amongst a patchwork of rear fenced off gardens, garages, mews houses and ad-hoc rear ad-ons and a recently completed house, also by Russell Jones.
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Originally a decrepit backland area, of run down and disused garages and a haven for crime and fly tipping, the location is now gradually developing into a secluded residential enclave.
The project was designed and developed with an economy of visual, spatial and structural means. The material palette and the design were kept intentionally simple. The volumes were handled in such a way as to make the most of a small site constrained by overlooking neighbours on most elevations, resulting in a building that has an overall sense of space and calm infrequently seen in properties of this size in London. The careful selection and crafted use of materials create an essential quality that isn’t apparent in the materials themselves. The resulting home, although compact, feels spacious and special
